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I have a 67 C10 that I've had for a while. It was my daily driver for 10+ years... including a few years with a 2 hour commute in LA traffic. The 283/2bbl, 4 spd, manual drum brakes, no PS, no AC was very reliable, only needing towed once the entire time I owned it, and that was when the timing chain jumped while driving home from a car show in FT Worth.
I'm not turning it into a modern truck, or hot rod, but I am adding a RV style cam to the engine and long tube headers, dual exhaust with an H pipe, and large case turbo mufflers. Hopefully it will be as reliable as the 283 was.
I'm leaning toward keeping the trans manual so I can use my original speedo. I think I could use my mechanical oil gauge with a T fitting, but I'm not sure what to do about the water temp gauge.
Can the head or block be tapped? I don't plan to use the mechanical fan. Is it possible to run a T fitting where the electric fans pull from? Are there any other locations I can tap into?
Thanks in advance.
Last edited by wesmigletz; 06-20-2024 at 07:43 PM.
Reason: Typos
I installed AutoMeter mechanical oil pressure, fuel pressure, water temperature and transmission temperature gauges on my last LS build. The LS heads have a threaded port for an electronic temperature sensor and you'll have to buy the adapter for the gauge and drill and tap the head for 3/8 NPT. I went into this with some detail in my thread 99 Camaro a/k/a TUFFENUFF
The L8T of course is a Gen V - so the LS heads stuff won't work. I ran my steam gauges off an ICT oil block and the water using a custom adapter in the block heater port.
The L8T of course is a Gen V - so the LS heads stuff won't work. I ran my steam gauges off an ICT oil block and the water using a custom adapter in the block heater port.
Same concept guy.. Both the LS and LT heads use a metric thread temperature sensor and I'm pretty sure you can do the same as I did on the LS head. Now the sensor/probe on the mechanical gauge is rather long and it was not an issue with the LS cylinder head. You could do a side by side comparison of the factory temp sensors to see if they are identical in length and also verify that you can drill the Gen V LT head and the mechanical temperature gauge sensor/probe can fit into the head without obstruction. You could verify that before ever drilling and tapping the head. If you do determine this will not work you can also utilize a coolant line to run the gauge off of.
Well, "guy" - if you actually swapped in a Gen V you would realise they are completely different animals than a LS. The temp sender boss is mounted on the water pump - at least on the 5.3 L84 and the heads have no sender provisions whatsoever.
I ran into the exact issue the OP has and gave my real world solution. When you actually do the same with a Gen V feel free to chime in.
That said - this is what I ended up with. The block heater port at the back of the driver's side has a plug if the heater is not optioned. ICT (?) has a billet plug or sender adapter - I opened it up on a lathe and tapped it to match my temp gauge. The reason it is machined on the outside was the adapter was bigger than my largest socket (1-3/8"") so I reduced the hex size to that in a mill.
A much easier option is to put it in an adapter on the upper radiator hose.
A good idea, but the 1/8" NPT hole is way too small for any grounded sender I know of.
If ICT made something like this out of hex stock; 1-1/4 at one end, 1/1/2 the other and a center hole in one of the flats tapped for a common 60's-70's temp sender it would be perfect.
No interest in the Gen V whatsoever and BTW that's not what a mechanical water temperature gauge sender looks like. I realize that the sender you posted is for use with an electronic gauge.. Have a nice day guy!
I'd probably look for a suitable spot on the water pump housing to drill and tap to the appropriate thread, similar to what was done here with a different style (LT4) water pump. https://automobileman.com/wp/?p=370
I'm willing to bet that you could drill and tap that location on the water pump for the 3/8" NPT adpater for the Autometer gauge but if not this is another option for inslalling a mechanical water temperature gauge
Thank you everyone for the recommendations. I will be back in TX mid-July (where my truck and engine are), and take a better look at the water pump and check for a block heater. Scarebird, I hadn't considered the speedo adapter for the transmission, thank you for pointing it out.
06-20-2024, 07:39 PM
Want to use Mechanical Gauges on a 6.6 L8T Swap 
